by Sam Miller \u201915.<\/p>\n
Andr\u00e9 Kert\u00e9sz\u2019s photograph Meudon<\/i> exudes a distinct sense of alienation by exemplifying surrealism\u2019s exploitation of accidental juxtapositions.<\/p>\n
The first word that came to mind when looking at this photograph was ominous<\/i>.\u00a0 There is something unsettling, something sinister about this scene.\u00a0 While nothing is perceptibly \u201cwrong,\u201d it actively radiates an implication that something terrible is about to happen.<\/p>\n
A quick glance at the photograph\u2019s content doesn\u2019t reveal anything conspicuously out of the ordinary.\u00a0 Set in a drab alleyway of the titular Parisian suburb, the foreground is dominated by a man with a large wrapped package tucked under his arm, as a train steams ahead stolidly in the background, passing over a viaduct undergoing construction.\u00a0 Several passerby stroll further down the alley, but the area is otherwise largely deserted.<\/p>\n
And yet, there is an underlying menace to the scene.\u00a0 The man in the foreground squints suspiciously at the camera, as if he\u2019s disturbed by being photographed.\u00a0 Caught mid-stride, the man is clearly in a hurry to get somewhere with his package. Why does he grasp his package so protectively?\u00a0 What exactly is he carrying?\u00a0 His distrust is echoed by the woman farther down the alley\u2014the only other visible face\u2014as she scrutinizes almost angrily from afar.\u00a0 These people, seemingly in the midst of humdrum activities, appear to be hiding <\/i>something.<\/p>\n
Meudon<\/i> is also a photograph of movement.\u00a0The vast, empty space of the viaduct, framed by the photographer in such a way that we see more space beneath the train than above, accentuates the train\u2019s potential to fall.\u00a0Is the train safe to be traveling over the viaduct, which seems to have abandoned construction supplies strewn about its base?<\/p>\n
Furthermore, the viaduct\u2019s clean and fresh fa\u00e7ade stands in stark contrast to the gloomy grit of the squalid buildings below and the dusky train above. \u00a0The viaduct\u2019s superior condition to the decay of the buildings draws attention to a process of industrialization that destroys as it creates\u2014this nondescript street is dying while construction continues in the distance.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, the photograph captures a scene that appears to be on the brink of disaster. \u00a0In the first surrealist manifesto of 1924, Andr\u00e9 Breton wrote that the surreal is a resolution of \u201cdream and reality, which are seemingly so contradictory, into a kind of absolute reality.\u201d\u00a0 With Meudon<\/i>, Kert\u00e9sz appears to have captured a resolution of reality and a nightmare.<\/p>\nImage details:<\/h6>\n
Andr\u00e9 Kert\u00e9sz (Hungarian, 1894\u20131985)
\nMeudon<\/i>, 1928
\ngelatin silver print
\nMuseum\u00a0Purchase, Lloyd O. and Marjorie Strong Coulter Fund\u00a0 1984.1
\n\u00a9 Estate of Andr\u00e9 Kert\u00e9sz, courtesy of Bruce Silverstein Gallery, NY<\/h6>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Sam Miller \u201915. Andr\u00e9 Kert\u00e9sz\u2019s photograph Meudon exudes a distinct sense of alienation by exemplifying surrealism\u2019s exploitation of accidental juxtapositions. The first word that came to mind when looking at this photograph was ominous.\u00a0 There is something unsettling, something sinister about this scene.\u00a0 While nothing is perceptibly \u201cwrong,\u201d it actively radiates an implication that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":65,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10,8],"tags":[23],"class_list":{"0":"post-53","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-student-response","8":"category-street","9":"tag-andre-kertesz","10":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.bowdoin.edu\/surrealist-photography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.bowdoin.edu\/surrealist-photography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.bowdoin.edu\/surrealist-photography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.bowdoin.edu\/surrealist-photography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.bowdoin.edu\/surrealist-photography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/research.bowdoin.edu\/surrealist-photography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.bowdoin.edu\/surrealist-photography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.bowdoin.edu\/surrealist-photography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.bowdoin.edu\/surrealist-photography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.bowdoin.edu\/surrealist-photography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}